1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



341 



vegetables has proved most profitable, 

 and the development of these branches 

 of agriculture has been very rapid, giv- 

 ing a great impetus to the iise of irriga- 

 tion. At the present time by far the 

 greater number of irrigation systems in 

 the state are used by truck farmers and 

 growers of small fruits. 



Although it has a heav}" mean annual 

 rainfall, Florida is subject to severe 

 drouths, especially during the grow- 

 ing period between February and June. 

 In the sections where irrigation is re- 

 ported the soil is naturally non-reten- 

 tive of moisture, and, owing to the 

 great heat, evaporation is excessive. 



The state appears to be underlaid 

 by artesian waters at depths varying 

 from 25 to 500 feet below the surface. 

 Where these waters have been tapped 

 the supply is found to be ample, many 

 of the wells flowing with considerable 

 pressure and great volume. In most 

 cases no cost for pumping is entailed 

 in irrigation, and the expense of main- 

 taining the plant is very slight. The 

 usual cost of one well, including drill- 

 ing, casing, cement pipes, and every- 

 thing required to complete a plant 

 capable of irrigating 10 acres, is about 

 $500. 



The system employed on the leading 

 farms is as follows : continuous under- 

 ground cement pipes are laid from the 

 wells to hydrants, plugs, or standpipes, 

 from which the w^ater is distributed in 

 small furrows between rows. These 

 pipes are made and laid at the same 

 time by a machine, in trenches pre- 

 viously prepared, and extend without 

 break to any desired part of the field. 

 The pipe itself is composed of two parts 

 sand and one part cement, with a usual 

 inside measurement of three inches, and 

 an outside measurement of six inches, 

 and costs about 10 cents per foot. In 

 a few localities the water is pumped by 



windmills into tanks, whence it is dis- 

 tributed over the land through iron 

 pipes or wooden troughs. Gasoline en- 

 gines and rotary pumps are sometimes 

 used instead of windmills. A well, with 

 its equipment of gasoline engine, rotary 

 pump, and iron pipe sufficient to irrigate 

 three acres, costs about $500. Using 

 gasoline, at 14^2 cents per gallon, as a 

 fuel, such a plant will deliver 2,000 gal- 

 lons of water per hour, at an average 

 cost of 4 cents per hour. 



The most extensive irrigation systems 

 in the state are located in Gadsden 

 county, and belong to two companies 

 engaged in the cultivation of Sumatra 

 tobacco. The cost of constructing these 

 plants, which irrigate 250 acres of to- 

 bacco, was $36,250. In 1899 the value 

 of the tobacco grown was $91,000, or 

 an average of $364 per acre. The water 

 for these plants is pumped by steam from 

 several small creeks into reservoirs, from 

 which it is distributed through ditches by 

 gravity. One of the companies has per- 

 fected an elaborate plan of distribution 

 through troughs and overhead sprays, 

 the water being applied in a manner very 

 similar to that of natural rainfall. 



Among the humid states where irriga- 

 tion was practiced in 1899, for general 

 crops, Florida ranked first in the area 

 irrigated, in cost of plants, and in value 

 of irrigated crops. In that year there 

 were 180 irrigated farms, 166 of which 

 reported irrigated products. On 14 

 farms, 53 acres of non-bearing orange 

 trees and pineapples were irrigated. 

 Forty-three irrigation systems, repre- 

 senting an aggregate cost of $78, 525 , and 

 covering 751 acres, were not operated in 

 1899. The value of the products of the 

 1,485 acres irrigated was $302,870, or an 

 average of $203.95 P^r acre. The total 

 cost of the pumping systems, ditches, 

 and wells was $232,388, or an average 

 of $101.52 per acre. 



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